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Legacy: Clement Clarke Moore's Classic Poem

A scholar in Hebrew and son of an Episcopal bishop, Clement Clarke Moore was a religious man. He was born in Newtown (now Elmhurst) during the Revolution in 1779, and all his life opposed most democratic reforms, such as the abolition of slavery.

He is also the same man who sat at a desk one evening in 1822, put fountain pen to paper and created one of the most beloved Christmas tales of all time.

Some men will do anything for their children.

Drawing from Dutch traditions, the writings of Washington Irving and other sources, Moore wrote ``A Visit From St. Nicholas,'' commonly known as ``'Twas the Night Before Christmas,'' in a single night. He never intended it to go beyond his own household.

But a young relative, Sarah Harriet Butler, copied the poem into her diary and her father sent it in 1823 to a newspaper in Troy, N.Y. After its publication, readers clipped and saved it. The tale soon became a classic.

An academic, Moore was somewhat embarrassed by the poem and would not admit he wrote it. That is, until some 26 years later, when a book-length edition was printed. (A facsimile appears above.)

Accompanying an illustration depicting a somewhat thinner version of the jolly old patron saint of children, the 1848 cover read: ``A Visit From St. Nicholas,'' by Clement C. Moore.